Sole for football shoes



June 2, 1959 N. B. PARSONS SOLE'FOR FOOTBALL SHOES Filed June 11, 1958 mmvron N54. .5. PAasoNs 'flwy ATTORNEY Unite This invention relates to footwear generally, and more especially to the soles of shoes intended to be used for playing football, and has among its general objects the production of such a sole for the purpose that will enable the player using the same to play with more comfort, greater speed and skill, and yet with less danger of seriously cutting or similarly maiming an opposing player.

A principal object of my invention is to so construct said sole with non-metallic cleats arranged in predetermined relation to one another thereon and whereby through such an arrangement snow, mud or other adres Patent at the rear end of said sole.

As is usual and needed to insure that the player have suflicient traction during play to insure accurate direction and rapid movement on the playing field, a plurality of cleats are carried by the bottom or under face of the s0 1e.

In this instance, these cleats are arranged in a spacedapart relation and with predetermined positionings and are preferably of Neolite or other non-metallic material that has been found to be sufficiently satisfactory for the purposes herein recited, and so that in the event that one 1 or more of said cleats come into contact with the face herent material will be directed off said sole by the action of the wearer of the shoes, so that in effect, the sole is self-cleaning of such adherent material, to thus insure that said cleats will preserve their intended good biting action'and traction into the playing field during play, and to minimize the weight of adherent material retained on the shoes during play.

Another object of the invention is to so arrange said cleats on said sole that there is suflicient clearance between the cleats to permit of uninterrupted exit of said adherent material from the shoe as the actions of play progresses. I An added object of my invention is to so construct such a sole with its cleats so arranged and spaced thereon that the ball of the foot of the wearer of the shoe will or other flesh portion of the body of an opposing player they will inflict a minimum of cutting action on the latter and thus tend to increase the safety of the game to a great degree. The use of metal cleats as currently employed sometimes causes such deep gashes as to not only cause much loss of blood and great pain, but leave per manent scars. The tendency of metal cleats to sharpen to almost a razor-edge surface as wear occurs is quite well-known. In the construction herein shown, each cleat is of a I generally triangular shape cross section, and has its base be well and comportably supported substantially across l' the median line of the full width of the ball of the foot. Still another object of the invention is to so arrange said cleats on the sole that there will be a single cleat closely adjacent the tip of the toe portion of the sole,

and a pair of mutually opposed cleats rearwardly of said toe cleat at about the ball portion of the sole, there being an uninterrupted space betweenthe toe cleat and the pair of ball-portion cleats, thus permitting the sole to be flexed approximately across that portion of the sole that supports the ball of the foot, so that when the player is running along the field or is starting the run, the ball-portion cleats bite into the material of the field and the toe celat immediately follows withits bite into the field.

Many'other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown and described will be obviousto those skilledin the art to which this invention appertains, all as will be'seen from the disclosures herein given.

To this end, my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described, and the uses mentioned, all as will be more clearly pointed out in the description that follows.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters represent like or corresponding parts throughout the views,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe sole, as seen from its under side; and

Figures 2, 3 and 4, show underside views of the sole and the forces that are in action during the run, start of superimposed flat on the bottom face of the sole, the sloping sides of said triangular section converging to form a relatively sharp crest or ridge line or edge, somewhat as indicated, the terminal ends of the cleats being beveled also, to provide a somewhat feathered edge at the base of the cleats. These cleats are all of the same height and may be molded as an integral part of the sole, or if desired, they may be made independently and cemented or otherwise fixedly secured to the sole.

Projecting from the bottom of the sole and rather close to the tip of the toe portion of the latter, is a cleat 3 made as hereinbefore mentioned, having an approximately V-shaped appearance in plan view, and with'the adjoined legs 44 diverging forwardly and outwardly of the toe area of the sole, said cleat being relatively short measured lengthwise of the sole as compared to the cleats spaced to their rear, for a purpose to be explained hereinafter.

Across that portion of the sole that is intended to support the ball portion of the foot of the wearer of the shoe is a pair of like cleats 55, one such cleat near one marginal edge of the side of the sole and the other cleat of the pair being similarly arranged near the opposite marginal side edge of the sole, said cleats being preferably L-shaped in plan view and having the shorter laterally extending legs 6-6 directed inwardly toward the longitudinal median line of the sole, the longer legs 7 7 "extended forwardly and laterally outwardly toward the adjacent marginal side edges of the sole and preferably along an arcuate line, so that said legs 7-7 flare outwardly toward their forward terminal ends, as shown.

It is to be particularly noted that said pair of cleats 55 are arranged with the terminal ends of their shorter legs in spaced-apart relation in order to provide a clearance space or gap 8 therebetween, and that one of said pair of cleats is shifted longitudinally relatively of the other so that the ball of the foot is firmly and comfortably supported for substantially the full width of the ball along the diagonal line 9 shown as extending across the sole.

It is also to be noted that there is an uninterrupted clear space, i.e., space not occupied by cleats, between the toe cleat and the relatively larger ball-portion cleats for a purpose soon to be-set forth.

The cleats 55 are placed sufficiently inwardly from the side margins of the sole to actually form a bridge or support for the foot at its ball and there is not only more comfort by such full line of support but there is a lessened tendency to turn the ankle during play. The sole is quite flexible approximately along the line 9 and such flexing movement of the foot immediately transfers the bite of the ball-portion cleats to the toe cleat, thus affording substantially a three-point support or balance for the foot.

Projecting from the heel portion of the sole member is another pair of opposed substantially L-shaped cleats 10-10 so arranged to provide a gap or clearance therebetween as indicated at 11, each such cleat having one of its legs 12 extending lengthwise of the sole and tennina'ting at its rear, and having a shorter leg 13 extending laterally across the sole.

An arrangement of cleats of the form described and shown will not only be substantially self-cleaning during play, in mud, snow or other adherent material, but will permit the player to perform well, without stumbling or slippage over frozen ground or sod.

The forces involved during the various phases of play action and the direction of movement of said adherent material relatively of the sole area are now about to be explained and are illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

Fig. 2 illustrates those forces reacting on the sole at the start of run of the player, said forces being indicated by the short arrows drawn against those portions of the cleat edges that are in contact with the field at the time. Obviously at the start of the run, the heel is more or less lifted and is only slightly in biting engagement with the field, so that the player balances himself mainly on the ball of the foot and with the toe cleat well into the ground.

His thrust is to the rearward in order to get off to a good and fast start. As the foot is forced rearwardly and leaves the ground against those portions indicated by said short arrows, any mud, snow or other adherent material is forced off the sole in the directions that are indicated by the longer arrows in said figure. T o accomplish this self-cleaning result it is necessary that the sole be open and unobstructed between the toe cleat and the ball-area pair of cleats and that there be a similar unobstructed space between the cleats and the adjacent marginal side edges of the sole.

In Fig. 3 there is illustrated the sole during the run of the player and here again the short arrows indicate the reaction forces acting on the cleats at this time, and the longer arrows indicate the flow of adherent material from the sole.

During such running action, the heel portion of the sole is not on the ground at all, and the runner flexes the shoe across the ball portion of his foot, giving a forward thrust to the forward portion of the sole to provide proper traction, in an action somewhat analagous to the action of a snow tire traveling through snow or mud, so that the reaction forces are approximately only at those edges of the cleats as indicated, and any matter adhering to 4 the sole will be s'lidably forced oil? the sole in the general directions indicated by said longer arrows.

Figure 4 illustrates the sole at the time that the player is coming to a stop or braking his run, and at this action, the weight of the player is applied firmly to the heel rather than at the toe, so that there is little or no engagement of the toe cleat with the ground, all as indicated by the reaction forces arrows shown.

During such braking, mud and other adherent material clinging to the sole will be forcibly slid off somewhat along the lines that are indicated by the relatively long arrows in said Fig. 4.

The arrangement of cleats as thus described and with the relatively long and uninterrupted spacing between the toe cleat and the ball-portion cleats gives a very comfortable feel to the foot, on or off the field, gives a quicker and more positive starting power and better cutting or direction of run change to the runner, and gives a broad and stable base for the heel to rest on. With such a short cleat at the toe as compared to the ballportion cleats arranged uninterruptedly far behind, there is a good bite into the ground at the toe, and the player can easily and quickly turn or pivot about said toe cleat, as needed.

I claim:

1. A shoe sole having cleats projecting downwardly from the toe, heel and ball portions thereof, the cleats at the ball portion of the sole being generally L-shaped in plan view and having the ends of their longer legs extending forwardly and terminating adjacent the outer edges of the sole.

2. A shoe sole as set forth in claim 1 in which the cleats are formed integrally with the sole.

3. A shoe sole as set forth in claim 1 in which the cleats are triangular in cross-section.

4. A shoe sole as set forth in claim 1 in which the ends of the longer legs of the ball cleats terminate outwardly beyond the lateral edges of the toe cleat.

5. A shoe sole as set forth in claim 1 in which the ball cleats are arranged oblique to the longitudinal -median line of the sole along the ball-supporting portion thereof to afford a rocking axis along said oblique line.

6. A shoe sole designed especially for foot-ball players provided with a single toe cleat, a pair of ball cleats and heel cleats, all of said cleats being generally L- shaped in plan view and triangular in cross-section and formed integral with the sole, the toe cleat being shorter in a longitudinal direction than the ball cleats to provide a pivot and being arranged to present the open side of the L toward the front portion of the sole, and the sole cleats being arranged oblique to the longitudinal median line of the sole along the ball-supporting portion thereof to afford a rocking axis along said median line and having their longer legs extending forwardly and terminating outwardly beyond the lateral edges of the toe cleat and adjacent the outer edges of the sole.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,594,056 Floyd July 27, 1926 1,596,600 Dickson Aug. 17, 1926 1,850,752 Ice et al Mar. 22, 1932 2,394,454 Kappeler Feb. 5, 1946 

